What is ETHL?

ETHL, Edinburgh Theoretical Historical Linguistics, was conceived as a miniature summer school / socratic seminar with a focus on discussion between historical linguists interested in linguistic theory and theoretical linguistics with a penchant for diachrony. Although this event is aimed at postgraduate and early career researchers we welcome participation from anyone interested in historical and theoretical linguistics!

Over the two days we will have four two hour seminars each led by an expert in theoretical historical linguistics addressing a different aspect of the intersection of historical and theoretical linguistics. Although the specifics of these seminars will be determined by the leader they will follow the approximate structure of a lecture followed by an extended discussion session.

In addition to the seminars on each day of ETHL there will be a session of snap-talks where work can be presented.

Our sponsor institutions: ETHL 2025 Seminar is possible by the support of AMC (Angus McIntosh Centre for Historical Linguistics), LAGB (postgraduate student committee), PhilSoc (Philological Society) and the PPLS (School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences at the University of Edinburgh) through the Training and Development Grants Scheme, .

Sessions

Plenary

What is a ‘snap-talk’?

We envision a snap-talk to be a theoretical version of a poster. Since ETHL is just a two day event we had thought of including a poster session but posters are not exactly amenable to theoretical work so we have come up with the concept of a 'snap-talk' session.

Each snap-talk will be 10 minutes where you can present work at any stage of completion. The idea is that a snap-talk does not need to be as polished as standard talk and will provide an opportunity to share ideas and receive feedback on early stages of theoretical historical linguistic work.